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A History of St. Mary’s Catholic Church,
Young NSW

In late 1860-early 1861 a working bee of Catholic diggers erected east of the present flour mill, a temporary wooden church with bark roof which was known as ‘The Bark Chapel”. It was the first church in Lambing Flat. From June that year the name ‘Young’, after Governor Young, appeared in Parish Registers.

On June 15th Fr. H. Finnegan was appointed to Young and Grenfell Districts.

He was Pastor of Young from 1871-1880.

In 1874 a building commenced on the new St Mary’s Church. The new church was blessed and opened by Bishop Lanigan in 1876.

The building built of granite, is cruciform, with a handsome spire over 108 feet in height from the base course.
The side walls are 19 feet high, and the ridge of the roof about 42 feet from the ground. The interior of the building will measure from end to end 109 feet, 27 feet from side to side at the narrowest part, and 61 feet from side to side at the widest part. On each side there will be five double windows, with a triplicate window in each side gable. The footing course will be two feet wide, and every second stone of the foundation is a “througher” stone the full width, and between the througher stones two stones. On the top of the footing course the walls are to be of rubble, in 12-inch courses, and one and a half feet thick, with a througher stone every four feet. The buttresses well tied with long stones. On the top of the foundations, the outside walls will be 14-inch brickwork, the gables 18 inches, and the lower walls 2 feet thick. The whole of the brickwork is to be built of Flemish bond, and the bricks of the very best hard-burnt and of good colour. The spire is to be of 18, 14, and 9 inch brickwork. All the doors are to have steps 14 inches wide and 6 inches thick of cleaned, chiselled freestone. The gables, copings, buttress caps, sills, joints, arches of the windows are to be cemented in Portland cement.

For more details download the complete article from the Parish History section on the Home Page.